Time measuring apparatus



I May 9, 1933.

R. R. KEMMERER TIME MEASURING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 15. 1931 R To PlazeTI? Y Z4 To 80am? Cipeai.

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R. R Kemmansr,

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Patented May 9, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RALPH B. KEMMERER, 0FSWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SWITCH 80 SIGNAL COMPANY,OF SW'ISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA TIMEMEASURING APPARATUS Application filed August 15, 1931. Serial 'No.557,333. 7

My invention relates to time measuring apparatus, and particularly toapparatus of the type in which a condenser discharging through a glowtube of the neon type provides he time element. 1

One feature of my invention is the provision of means whereby the timeelement becomes effective automatically under certain conditions, as forexample, in effecting the release of approach locking 1n railwaysignaling. Another feature of my mvention 1s the provision of meanswhereby two or more time elements may be obtained with the sameapparatus, when required. A I will describe two forms of apparatusembodying my invention, and will then point out the novel featuresthereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing oneform of apparatus embodying my invention applied to the time elementrelease of approach lookin this section is a railway switch Gr leadinginto a siding K Extending from one end of this section DE is an approachsection (1-D, and extending from the other end of the section DE is asecond approach section E-F. Each of the track sections is provided witha track circuit comprising a battery 2 and a track relay designated bythe reference character T with a distinguishing exponent.

Trailic over the switch G is governed by a group of signals of whichonly S and S are shown, these being controlled by the signal relays Hand H respectively. As shown in the drawing, signal S is provided with acircuit which passes from terminal B of a suitable source of current,through the front contact 3 of relay H and the operating mechanism ofthe signal S to terminal O of the same source of current. Thecontrolling circuit for signal S is similar to the circuit for signal Sbut is omitted from the drawing to simplify the disclosure. Thesignalrelays H and H are controlled from a remote point, such as aninterlo'cking tower, and also by the track relay T as usual, but thecontrolling circuits for these relaysare omitted from the drawingbecause they form no part of my present invention.

The switch G is provided with an operating 1 1 IIlQCillHlSHl P, which iscontrolled by sultable switch governing apparatus, this apparatus in theform here shown comprislng a polarized relay W. The control of theswitch G is such that the switch will be moved to its normal or itsreverse position according as relay WV is energized with current of onepolarity or the other. The relay W is controlled from the same remotepoint as relays H and H? over a circuit of which only a portion,terminating in the reference character it, is shown, this portionincluding the front contacts 4 and 5 of approach locking relays L and Land the front contact 6 of track relay T The approach locking relay Lbecomes energized over either of two pick-up circuits, one of whichincludes back contact 7 of relay H and front contact 8 of relay T andthe other of which includes back contact 7 of relay H and back contact 9of relay T Once relay L becomes energized, it will remain energizedov-era stick circuit which includes back contact 7 of relay H and frontcontact 10 of relay L The control circuits for approach locking relay Lare not shown, but it will be understood that relay L is controlled in amanner similar to that just described for relay L The purpose of relay Mis to initiate. operation of relay N preparatory to an'automatic releaseof the approach locking. The pickup circuit for relay M includes backcontact 7 of relay H and back contact 11 of relay L In similarmanner,relay M may be picked up over back contact 12 of relay L "When relay Mis picked up, a source of direct current of suitable magnitude isapplied across the "closing front contact 15. designed that thedischarge impulse from tact 15 to close.

condenser Q- and resistor R are so proportioned that a predeterminedtime interval will elapse before the potential across condenser Q willreach the critical value required to start a discharge through tube V.

When tube V becomes conducting, the accumulated charge on condenser Q isreleased through the winding of relay N so that relay N picks up,opening back contact 14: and The relay N is so condenser Q issufficientv to cause front con- Once relay N is plcked up, 1t Wlll remamenergized over a circuit starting at terminal B, front contact 16 ofrelay M,

front contact 15 of relay N, and winding of relay N to the otherterminal 0 of the source. The picking up of relay N interrupts thedischarge circuit for condenser Q atback contact 14 of relay N, andcloses front contact 17 of this relay. The closing of contact 17completes an auxiliary pick-up circuit for relay L which can be tracedfrom terminal B of the source, back contact 7 of relay H front I contact17 of relay N, and'winding of relay L tothe other terminal 0 of thesource.

When relay L picks up,'the circuit for relay M is interrupted at backcontact 11 of relay L so that relay M will release, opening contact 16which deenergizes relay N, and contact 13 Which removes the source ofpotential from condenser Q. The release of relay N will close contact14, reestablishing the discharge path for condenser Q through the tube Vso that the charge on condenser Q will be drained to the leveldetermined by the cut-off point of tube V, preparatory to a subsequentautomatic-release of the approach locking.

' The discharge of condenser Q under this condition may not becontinuous, but may occur in several steps because each discharge pulsewill pick up relay N, interrupting the discharge path momentarily, untilrelay N releases again, caused by the holding circuit for relay N beingopen at contact 16 of relay M. Should this cyclical operation of relayN, following a release of the approach locking, be deemed undesirable,it can be overcome by connecting a resistor of suitable value across thecondenser Q through an additional front contact on relay N, so thatcondenser Q may be completely discharged after relay N has becomeenergized. It will be apparent from the above that relay N provides anautomatic means for effecting the release of approach locking after thelapse of a predetermined time interval.

I shall now describe the manner in which the apparatus functions toefiect an automatic release of the approach lockingafter a train hasaccepted a route set up by the operator. Assuming that a train hasentered section CD and the operator has caused relay change the route,he will release relay H changed. If the operator ,nowdecides to 5,

causing signal S to assume its stop position I and causing back contact7 of relay H to close, but re'lay L cannot be picked up 'be-, causefront contact 8 of relay T and also 9.

back contact 9 of relay T are both open. However, the release of relay Lcloses back contact 11 which causes relay M to pick up over contacts 7and 11 in series, starting'the time interval which results in theenergiza- 42 tion of relay N and the release of the :ap-

proach looking, as described hereinbefore.

If a train should enter the approach section FE in the other directionof-travel,

ing apparatus for an automatic release of the approach locking would besimilar to that just described in connection with a train on section CD.It should be noted that I have provided an additional back contact 18 on5 relay L which is eflective in short circuitilrg a portion R of theresistor R with relay L released, so that, in the practice of myinvention, it becomes possible with the same release apparatus to obtaina different time interval for each direction of traffic, :suited to thespeed of traffic in that direction. This result is obtained because,among other factors, the amount of resistance in the-charging circuitfor condenser Q, determines the time interval required for the potentialacross condenser Q to build up to the critical distwill be understoodthat charge value. back contact 18 of relay L can be used to control thetime interval in any other suitable manner, as for example by changingthe value of the potential applied to condenser Q, or changing theeffective capacity of this condenser, so that my invention is notlimited to the short-circuiting-of a portion of resistor R as a meansfor varying the time element.

Referring to Fig. 2, which shows a means for obtaining the time elementcontrol .of energy to the filament or heater of vacuum tube, thereference character Z designates a the sequence of operation of thecorrespond- #3 resistor connected in the usual manner across the sourceof plate current supply for obtaining plate voltages and a low voltagesuitable for energizing the filament or heater of a vacuum tube ortubes, which are not shown, for simplicity. The resistor R, condenser Qand glow tube V are connected in a similar manner and serve the samepurpose, as already described in connection with Fig. 1, namely, tointroduce a predetermined time lag in the operation of relay N. Assumingthat a source of direct current has been applied to the terminals XY, apotential will build up across condenser Q until the resistance of glowtube V is broken down, and a discharge takes place. The discharge fromcondenser Q will pick up'relayN, opening the discharge path at contact21 and closing contact 22 to complete a stick circuit for relay N, whichrelay now becomes constantly energized from the potential across portionZ of resistor Z.

The drop across portion Z of resistor Z is used for energizing thefilament or heater of a vacuum tube, and when energy is first appliedacross theterminals XY, and be fore relay N has been picked up, resistorB provides a means for limiting the current flowing in the filament orheater circuit due to excess potential across Z until such time as theplate current load for the tubes of the system, supplied from thepotential across portions Z and Z of resistor Z, increases to its normalvalue, thereby increasing the drop across Z and Z and decreasing thedrop across Z. This condition is especially important if the tubes whichdraw plate current from across Z and Z are of the heater type, requiringan appreciable time for reaching their normal operating condition. Theapparatus is so proportioned that condenser Q will discharge when therequisite time has elapsed, and the picking up of relay N which follows,results in disconnecting of the resistor R at back contact 19 of relayN, and the closing of a direct connection through front contactQO fromthe terminals of resistor Z tothe filament or heater circuit ab.Contacts 19 and 20 can be of the continuity transfer type, in which caseno interruption in the flow of current in the circuit ab will result.When the energy is removed from the terminals X-Y, condenser Q, willbecome discharged through the resistor Z and resistor R in series, sothat the apparatus will be restored to the proper condition for asubsequent application of energy to the terminals XY. As will beapparent from the above description of Fig. 2, the apparatus thereindisclosed provides a means for preventing excess voltage from beingapplied to the filament or other element of a vacuum tube, resultingfrom a transient load condition on that tube or other tubes 55 of thesystem.

The tube V has been illustrated as a two- 'el'ement glow tube,fbut itwill be readily understood that other devices such for example as thegrid glow tube or any suitable discharge device having a criticalbreakdown Z potential could be used to accomplish the desired result, sothat my invention is not limited thereby.

' .Although I have herein shown and described but two applications andarrangements of time measuring apparatus embodying my invention, it isunderstood that the combination of resistor R, condenser Q, dischargedevice V and relay N may be used in any other suitable manner tointerpose 3 automatically a predetermined time interval in the operationof any desired function, various changes and modifications beingpossible within the scope of the appended claims without departing fromthe spirit and scope 1185 of my invention.

Havingthus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination, a railway switch, a signal for controlling traflicover said switch, means for operating said switch, an approach lockingrelay for governing said means, a resistor, a condenser, a source ofdirect cur rent, means for connecting said source across said condenserand resistor in series when said approach locking relay and said signalare both de-energized, an approach locking release relay, a dischargedevice connected across said condenser in series withthe winding and aback contact of said approach locking release relay and efiective tooperate the relay with energy from said condenser only when thepotential across the condenser exceeds a predetermined value, and meansfor energizing said approach locking relay when said approach lockingrelease relay is operated.

2. In combination, a railway switch, a signal for controlling trafiicover said switch, means for operating said switch, an approach lockingrelay for governing said means, a control relay, means for energizingsaid control relay when said approach locking relay and said signal areboth'deenergized, a resistor, a condenser, a source of direct current,means for connecting said source across said 115 condenser and resistorin series when said control relay is energized, an approach lockingrelease relay, a discharge device connected across said condenser inseries with the winding and a back contact of said ap- 12 proach lockingrelease relay and eifective to operate the relay with energy from saidcondenser only when the potential across the condenser exceeds apredetermined value, and means for energizing said approach locking 12relay when said approach locking release relay is operated.

3. In combination, a main section of railway track containing a switch;two signals,

one for each direction of trailic over said 3 V I switch; an approachsection'adjoi'ning each end of said main section, means for operatingsaid switch, approach locking comprising an approach locking relayassociated with each i 5 of said approach sections for governing saidmeans, a resistor, a condenser, a source of direct current, means forconnecting said source across said condenser and resistor in seriesefiective when either of said approach locking '10 relays'and thecorresponding signal are both deenergized, other means governed by oneof said approach locking relays for short-circuiting a portion of saidresistor when said one approach locking relay is deenergized,

15 an approach locking release relay, a discharge device connectedacross said condenser in series with the winding and a back contact ofsaid approach locking frel-ease relay and effective to operate the relaywith energy from said condenser only when the potential across thecondenser exceeds a predetermined value, and means ef ective when saidapproach locking release relay is operated for releasing said approachlocking.

5 4. In combination, a main section of railway track containing aswitch; two signals, a one for each direction of trafiic over saidswitch; an approach section adjoining each s end of said main section,means for operating said switch, approach locking comprising an approachlocking relay associated with each of said approach sections forgoverning said means, a source of direct current, a resistor, acondenser connected across said source through said resistor when eitherof said approach locking relays and the corresponding signal are bothdeenergized and requiring a definite time interval to receive apredetermined charge, means eflective when one of said approach locking.relays is deenergized for changing said time interval, an approachlocking release relay, means 1ncluding a discharge device having acritical breakdown potential for operating said ap- 3245 proach lockingrelease relay with energy from said condenser when the condenserhasreceived said predetermined charge, and means effective when saidapproach locking release relay is operated for releasing said ap- 3'550proach looking.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature.

RALPH R. KEMMERER.

